I’ve visited more than 100 countries – but nothing compares to this Scottish island

This being Arran, they probably won’t shout about the Stonehenge sibling. This is a modest island close enough to Glasgow to keep things real; not a place for highfalutin people, nor attitudes. In summer, it can get busy, especially with day trippers in the bijou capital of Brodick, but it’s never as clogged as Skye. And there is plenty of space for everyone.

There is always something more, too. In what must be approaching 100 visits I’ve never yet yomped to remote Càrn Bàn, and on my most recent trip discovered the community woodland wonderland of Eas Mor, with its tumbling waterfall, and the reborn Corrie Hotel. Reinvention is in Arran’s DNA.

The island suffered under the baleful Clearances, one enterprising former crofter founding Macmillan Publishers; his descendant destined to become Britain’s prime minister. Coming the other way – all are welcome in internationalist Arran – in 2022 were Andy and Rodger. They swapped the madness of Manhattan for the sleepy coastal village of Corrie, where they’ve fashioned a boutique hipster hideaway.